Gerald Joseph Crosson, Jr

The database page for Gerald Joseph Crosson, Jr

23 Jul 2002 REMEMBERED by his comrades in arms from VVA Chapter 421 From a fellow Vietnam Veteran, Lester Modelowitz lmodelowitz@si.rr.com

12 Mar 2003 We lived on the same block in Staten Island back in the start of the sixties and went out a couple of times. I knew he had gone into the service and was MIA. My Aunt and Uncle lived on the same block for many, many years. I used to ask my Uncle (George McGuire) the last relative alive, who had moved to Florida if he had ever heard any more and, of course, the answer was no. Gerald Crosson was a wonderful young man and is still in the memory of others after all these years. Claudia Williams E-Mail will be forwarded by the Webmaster@VirtualWall.org

3 Jun 2004 Gerry Crosson was my best friend in college. We were both ROTC Cadets together at NYU. In 1964 he and I drove to Plattsburgh Air Force Base for ROTC Summer Camp (Basic Training) in his 1932 Model A Ford. The last time we saw each other in person was in late Fall of 1966. He had just finished UPT (Undergraduate Pilot Training) at Laughlin Air Force Base, Texas, and he and his brother Peter stopped to see me at Amarillo Air Force Base. Gerry was excited about going on to F-4 training and then on to Southeast Asia. We exchanged letters only a couple of times before 16 May 68. I was notified by a mutual friend from NYU that Gerry had been shot down. I wore Gerry's POW Bracelet until 1973 when the POWs returned. I then bought a new one with his name because the old one was pretty beat up. I wear it on the 16th of May each year. I have been to the Viet Nam Memorial to see his name on the Wall, I have been to Punchbowl Cemetery in Honolulu to see his name on the Wall of fallen heroes who remain Missing in Action. Many times I ponder on what the future would have held for Gerry. I'm sure the leadership skills he demonstrated as a cadet would have grown and he would have been a true "Air Leader" and would have been a senior Air Force Officer. I miss him. I miss his sense of humor. I miss seeing that smile that made all the girls go wild for him. I miss his friendship and always will. From a friend, Richard L. Waxman, Colonel, USAF (Ret) rickwaxman@msn.com

03 Sep 2005 I met and knew Gerry though a friend, Penn Lenson, a good friend and a car buff like Gerry. I remember Gerry and his sense of humor, his family, his Dad, his Mom, his brother, his home, his cars. Then in the spring of 1968, the very sad words came from Penn and Gerry's Dad that he was missing, shot down, MIA somewhere in Viet Nam. He was about a year plus older than I so his time came first to go active duty. I also joined the USAF. For me, it was in early 1969 and I served in the 380th AMS at PAFB (SAC) New York. I received many good and very lucky sets of orders. I came home 4 years later. Gerry did not and he is still missed, greatly by all who knew him. We miss you, Gerry. You are with God. From a friend, John J. Creskey New York State jcreskey@aol.com

Notes from The Virtual Wall Captain David J. Rickel, pilot, and Lieutenant Gerald J. Crosson, Jr., weapons system operator, were lost while flying an F-4D PHANTOM over North Vietnam. Their aircraft was shot down about 20 miles southwest of the city of Quang Khe, Quang Binh Province, North Vietnam. Other aircrews in the area saw no parachutes, nor were any emergency beeper signals heard. Search and rescue operations failed to locate any sign of either aircrewman and both men were classified Missing in Action. The North Vietnamese never listed the two as captured and Rickel and Crosson were not among the American POWs released in February 1973, nor did any of the released POWs have any knowledge of the two men. The Secretary of the Air Force approved a Presumptive Finding of Death for Gerald Crosson on 05 May 1978, changing his status from Missing in Action to Died while Missing.

The point-of-contact for this memorial is a fellow Vietnam Veteran, Lester Modelowitz lmodelowitz@si.rr.com 23 Jul 2002

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With all respect
Jim Schueckler, former CW2, US Army
Ken Davis, Commander, United States Navy (Ret)
Last updated 09/04/2005